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Videos show how civilians are caught in the crossfire as Middle East violence escalates

Militants in Gaza continued to fire rockets into Tel Aviv and central Israel last night as Israel bombarded Gaza airstrike attacks, the army said.

Guests celebrating the wedding of a couple in Holon, central Israel, were forced to flee and run to a shelter after rockets were fired at the venue.

Israel's "Iron Dome" defence system intercepted the rockets, and can be seen flying overhead.

The Israeli army said more than 45 rockets were fired last night and early this morning. With its new reach Hamas rockets now have an estimated 5 million people, more than half of Israel's population in range. There were no reported causalities from any of the rockets.

In Gaza, the Israeli army said it launched 160 airstrikes last night, across a number of military targets.

At least one of the airstrikes hit civilian targets, and a total of 27 people have died, hospital officials said. Among the dead were 18 civilians, including five children.

Footage filmed yesterday in Gaza shows pandemonium as an airstrike hit and flattened an apartment building, forcing families to flee.

Warning: Contains distressing images.

In an air strike on a home in northern Gaza this morning, a top leader of the Islamic Jihad group and five of his family members were killed, the Palestinian Interior Ministry said.

An 80-year-old Palestinian woman was killed in an Israeli attack on another target in central Gaza, local officials said.

The violence is the worst since the eight-day battle in November 2012. This morning in the West Bank, hundreds of Palestinian teenagers and children threw stones at Israeli checkpoints, chanting support for Hamas. Soldiers responded with tear gas and bullets.